Til Summer Comes Around
by toxicNovelists
Summary: Eridan and Sollux meet in summer at a carnival, Sollux leaves yet promises to return. Eridan waits for years, working at the park where they met. Story inspired by ' Til Summer Comes Around' by Keith Urban. Humanstuck. Songfic.


_TA: This will be a collaborative story between HN and I. The story is based off of the song "'Til Summer Comes Around" by Keith Urban__**  
**__HN: damn straight. This is the first time we've collaborate on something that's going to be published, so I'm sorry for any faults on my end!_

* * *

Eridan sighed, the sights of the carnival bringing back unpleasant memories for the blonde as he tended to the rides in the park. One ride in particular made his heart wrench in his chest, and make him get torn up on the inside - the Ferris Wheel. As the day came to a close, Eridan went around cleaning things up; scrubbing down tables covered in soda from spoiled children throwing fits, picking up wrappers from lazy teens, and shutting off all the rides for the night. As the sun set, he had a flashback to the happier times when everything was blissful, and nothing seemed to hurt. But nothing ever stays like that, now does it?

_It all started five years before. Summer had just begun and every amusement park was rife with families and visitors to enjoy the hot days. On one particular day during the summer, a high school aged boy led a shorter looking boy and a woman through the park. The shorter boy pointed excitedly at the different attractions, muttering things in another language that sounded like questions. Even though every question was answered patiently, the older boy was getting antsy and quite impatient. He decided to take the overly excited boy to a ride- a little kids rollercoaster._

_Eridan growled as he exited the bus, a long, black haired girl laughing at him as he almost tripped over another kid's foot._

_"Cod, fuckin".." He grumbled, sneering at the kids as they made their way from the bus and scampered off in various directions to the carnival rides scattered about the peer overlooking the ocean. He smiled, however, when his best friend hopped off the bus and joined him. They walked and talked for a while before the bubbly girl with cascading curls went off with another smaller but equally excited girl in a green trench coat to play some arcade games. Eridan sighed once more, and carried on past the kiddie rides with a gloomy, kicked aside air about him. He kept his head down the majority of the time, but hoped someone, anyone would say something to him. He felt so alone._

_The dandelion headed boy ran away from his older brother and off into the newly large crowd. _

_"Mituna! Thhit!" He ran after the hyperactive boy, dodging other teens and adults trying to catch the boy. _

_"Get back here! I wont find you if you get lotht you know!" The boy stopped for a moment before continuing to laugh cheerfully and run faster, causing his brother to do the same. He finally caught up to his brother once he pretty much plowed someone over when he picked the 5 year old up. _

_"Oh thhit! I'm thorry about that I wath trying to catch-my... brother..." his breath caught in his throat as he looked down to the blonde he ran into._

_Eridan grunted as he hit the ground, nearly tripping over the speedy little puff of hair. At the sound of the other's voice, he glanced up and stared for a moment. His heart raced in his chest, and his face felt just slightly warmer than before._

_"Uh... It's fine, no trouble, really.." He said as he stood up and brushed himself off, ".. The little guy's a rocket, I'll give him that." Eridan added with a smile, and held his hand out, " My name's Eridan. "_

_"My nameth Thollux... itth nice to meet you.". The black haired youth took Eridan's hand, shaking it lightly. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he stared at the other through his sunglasses. A tiny hand smacked Sollux's face and spoke in a small voice._

_"Of courthe, thith ith Mituna. I am really thorry for knocking you over ED". He apologized once more._

_After shaking the other's hand, Eridan flashed another small smile, "It's all right Sol, there's actually nothin to wworry about. It's nice to meet you guys too though." He said, chuckling a little to himself when Mituna's little hand smacked his brother's face._

_"He's a cutie, no harm done." The blonde added afterwards, and waved a little to the smaller child._

_Sollux gave a lazy half smile to him before looking around. _

_"Are you here alone?" The smile transformed into a frown as he looked to Eridan. Mituna mumbled something in his native language before making small grabby hands at Eridan, signalling for him to hold him instead of his brother, who rolled his slanted eyes with a smile. _

_"But really, are you?"_

_"Wwell, sorta. I go to a summer prep school an they took us here on a field trip. Wwe're stayin until the park closes. Are you guys alone?" Eridan asked in return, the smile widening just a little as the little one made grabby hands for him. The blonde held his arms out like he wanted to pick Mituna up, but, didn't exactly know how to ask._

_"Uh... Can I.. Hold him for a sec?"_

_With a nod, the Asian handed over the fluffy haired boy to him and laughed. _

_"He'th heavy, go for it." Once his arms were free and his brother was clinging to Eridan, Sollux leaned against the brick wall and put his hands in his pockets to watch them. _

_"I didn't think that America had thchool in the thummer. Guethth you learn thomething new everyday"_

_Eridan laughed as the five year old clung to him, and hugged him back before he replied to Sollux's comment, "American schools can take place in the summer, it just depends on the school an your parents. Wwhat do you mean though by that though? Don't you go to school here locally or somethin?" He asked, leaning against the wall the Asian boy was before it dawned on him, and rolled his eyes._

_"Wwait, you're not from around here, huh?"_

_"Nope. We live in Japan. Our mother thought it would be fun to come back to her motherland for the week of your Independence Day. Tho, here we are." He said, not mentioning that they'd be leaving in two day's, seeing it as irrelevant at the moment. _

_"Actually, thhe thhould be around here thomewhere. If you want, I can drop Mituna off with her and we can, y'know, go around and ride thome rideth or thomething?"_

_"Japan? That sounds interestin'. I pretty much livve dowwn the street since my dad kinda owwns the pier. An sure, though, I think it'll be kinda hard. He's pretty clingy, Sol." The freckled boy answered, another smile tossed the Asian's way._

_"Speakin a Independence Day, havve you evver seen the firewworks? They're amazin!" Eridan declared, and gave the fluffy boy a faint affectionate squeeze, finding him really all too cute to just give up._

_Sollux shook his head with a smile. "No. I mean I've theen fireworkth, but I wath told that the fireworkth on thith day were all tho elaborate and thpectacular!" _

_He got off of the wall to take Mituna from Eridan fairly easily, bargaining to give him candy if he went back with their mother in the process. _

_"Now, once I find our mom, you wanna go ride thome rideth?"_

_It was hard to keep from either pouting or whining at the loss of the little guy, but Eridan managed it - somehow. With a nod at sollux's question, Eridan straightened up._

_"Sure, it sounds fun at least..if you don't havve anythin to do that is." He added, glancing at the glasses-clad boy beside him._

_"Even if I had thomething to do, I thtill would've athked you." He caught sight of his mother and quickly took Mituna over to her and then ran back to the blonde. _

_"Well, you ready?" Sollux smirked and motioned toward the many rides to choose from, the carnival expanding as far as the eye could see. His face became warm with all the possibilities of the day showing before him._

_Eridan grinned excitedly, a dimple showing on his chin as he nodded and hurried off towards a Tilt-A-Whirl._

_"Howw's this one?" He asked, already in line for the ride with a bright smile. They would work their way through the entire park before either had to go, Eridan would make sure if it. The guy in charge of the ride recognized the blonde haired boy and motioned him to the front of the line, disregarding protests from the other kids as Eridan tugged Sollux along._

_"C'mon, Sol! It'll be fun!"_

_He chuckled and let himself be tugged onto the vomit inducing ride. Once the lap bar was pulled down, not securing them in the least, and the ride started twisting to one side, Sollux attempted to keep himself from crushing the other into the metal egg shaped side of the ride. One particularly hard twist of the pod thrust him onto Eridan's side of the ride, luckily catching himself right before slamming right into him._

_The ride jerked Eridan around quite a bit, almost whipping him to the other side as it snapped this way and that. He laughed nonetheless and grinned as the ride continued. When Sollux ended up almost slammed into his side from the rough jostling of the spins , he blushed and stiffened up before shaking the incident off as nothing more than a ride-induced occurrence._

_It was hard for Sollux to pull himself away from Eridan once the ride had stopped, but he did nonetheless. "Th-Thorry about that. But at leatht I didn't cruthh you." He got out of the pod and extended his hand for the blonde to take to help him out and drag him to a rollercoaster, hopefully._

_"It's fine, you don't havve to wwory, Sol." Eridan answered with a smile, and took the other's hand. As he stepped off the ride he turned to the other and grinned, "You pick a ride noww, okay? I'm fine wwith anythin." He said, not realizing he hadn't let go of the other's hand until some asshole pointed it out. His pale cheeks warmed to a soft pink as he let Sollux's hand slip away, "Sorry.."_

_Sollux's already narrow eyes were narrowed further when someone said something about such a simple thing, taking up the hand again._

_"Don't be. Theriouthly don't lithten to any jackaththeth here." He muttered this sternly as he led him over to one of the large rollercoasters._

_"How'th thith?" the question was asked, even though he was already in the line._

_"Perfect, an thanks. " Eridan replied, his face heating up a little as his hand was once again held by the other, ".. It's okay, Sol, it's not like I havven't heard any of that crap before, but it's nice to havve someone else wwho doesn't pick on me._

_" The blonde added, offering a hopeful little smile before they were seated. Once the bar was secured, Eridan pushed on it a little to make sure it wasn't faulty. His grip on sollux's hand tightened a little as the ride began._

_Another chuckle escaped at the tightening on his hand. _

_"You don't have to worry, ED. We'll be perfectly fine. I'll make thure that you don't fall out." He offered up his arm as the train climbed up the tall hill, half way to the top before the drop. The adrenaline was building up, excited for the vertical 90 degree drop, but still giving a half smile with his arm held out for Eridan._

_Eridan gratefully took the other's arm, clinging to him a little more as they neared the top. His heart stop, mind blanking as he faced the ground while the ride went perfectly straight down, and he let out a scream._

_"FUCK." his eyes were clenched shut, and his entire body tensed up. Okay, so maybe rollercoasters weren't a good idea. Regardless, it was a great excuse to hold onto Sollux._

_His arms immediately went around Eridan as he smiled brightly on the way down the drop. He wouldn't mention that most of his blood circulation was being cut off in his arm, he could definitely live with that for a while. The ride didn't last long after a corkscrew and two interlocking loops. Once it was over, Sollux helped the blond out of the ride again._

_"You okay? You theem a bit thhaken up."_

_Eridan was in fact shaking like a leaf, eyes wide and face drained of all traces of color on his skin, "S-Sol, I think I nn-need a moment... My stomach's still on the ride..." He answered, and covered his mouth quickly with his palms. A disgruntled noise escaped his throat as he rushed off to a nearby trash can, and doubled over it with a gagging sound._

_Sollux went over to Eridan and rubbed his back until he was finished. He didn't think that a rollercoaster would be as bad as it turned out to be._

_"Thorry, if I knew you got thick on thtuff like that I wouldn't have taken you on it. Thorry" He mumbled his apologies quietly, continuing to hopefully sooth the other by rubbing his back._

_The blonde answered with a small reply of, "I'm fine - it's noth-" before he was unceremoniously cut off with his stomach wrenching again. A choked sob and the rest of his stomach was emptied, the taste of bile and popcorn left in his mouth. A pathetic little whine and Eridan slumped against Sollux, face tucked into the other's shoulder after he wiped it off on a napkin from his pocket._

_".. Thanks Sol.."_

_"It'th no problem, ED. I jutht hope that you're feeling better after that." His arms wrapped around him in a small hug before pulling back. _

_"Let'th go on thomething a little more calming, okay? Thomething not a rollercoathter." Sollux began walking toward what looked to be less bumpy ride, keeping his one arm around the other with a large smile._

_"I wwill, it wwasn't like I died or anythin." Eridan replied, a weak little smirk as they started walking towards the Ferris Wheel. The feeling of Sollux's arm around him making a smile tug at his lips and his cheeks gain color again. Regardless of who was looking, Eridan leaned into, just a bit, the other's embrace and sighed quietly. The sun was half way down under the water, its rays reflecting off the surface like a defective mirror by the time the boys were on the ride. A hitch in the motion of the ride and they lurched in their seat, coming to a smooth stop at the top of the ride. The height gave a perfect view of everything, the entire pier in view like an upgraded map. The sunset was on display, slowly inching its way down as Eridan beamed and grinned at the other male._

_Sollux smiled right back at him as the fireworks were set off into the darkening skies. The loud booms they had made shocked him slightly before returning his attention back on the blonde. With a fake yawn, he stretched his arm to fall around the back of the Ferris Wheel's seat and onto Eridans shoulders. The thumping of his heart was going wild in his ears again as he stared at him, the light from the fireworks illuminating him perfectly. That was all the Asian boy could keep his eyes on, not paying any mind to anything else as he took Eridans chin in his hand and tilted it upward gently._

_ "L-Lithten, I really, really don't know how to thay thith after one day, but... I think... I think I love you. A lot..." And without giving him much room for protest, Sollux connected their lips as one particularly large crash of a firework resounded._

_Eridan's eyes widened, a blush staining his freckled cheeks as their lips touched, mind still dizzy from sollux's words and the warmth of his arm. Purple eyes fluttered shut, and shaky hands rested against the slightly taller boy's chest, hands curled in on the fabric to keep Sollux where he was as Eridan got the courage to kiss back. The fireworks going off didn't register as anything but background noise and light as their lips finally parted. Eridan's eyes opened slowly, daring himself to see if this was real and not a dream after all._

_"..You.. Really mean that? You lovve me, Sol..?" He asked, timidly glancing from the asian's lips to his eyes and smiling, "I lovve you too..." Just as Eridan leaned in for another kiss, someone called for Sollux to stop making out and get off the ride._

_His head whipped around to see his mother calling for him and got off of the ride with Eridan. _

_"Yeth I do. Tho much. But I have to go now." A pained look crossed over his face before bringing the blonde into a tight hug, burying his face into his hair._

_"I don't want to go but I'll make you thith promithe." Sollux pulled back to take Eridan into one final kiss. _

_"I will be back again. I thwear." With that he reluctantly waved him good bye and walked away with the two people waiting for him, looking back sullenly every so often._

_Eridan wanted to run after the group and beg them not to go, his heart shattering as he watched Sollux go. The feeling of kiss left his lips tingling, and the promise was burned into his mind, never to be forgotten._

_"Come back soon then, sol." He called after the other, hoping with everything he had that it would be sometime he could live with - the next day, month, or year even... But nothing's ever like how you want it, right?_

Gravel crunched under his sneakers as he walked into the deserted carnival, eyes searching everywhere for any sign of another person anywhere. Just when he was about to give up in his search, he spotted a tuft of blond hair by the Ferris Wheel, just staring up at it. His eyes widened and his heart began to beat faster in anticipation. Timidly, he began to walk closer to get a better look at who it was, but he didn't seem to notice him yet.

The blonde tore his gaze from the ride after the memory was cut short, and he returned back to turning off the lights still illuminating the area around it. A small huff and Eridan shoved his hands into his pockets, and exited the gate to the slightly more open area of the pier to make sure everything was off and ready for the mechanics guy to come in to finish up routine cleanings. Eridan would normally grease wheels, tighten the bolts and straighten the tracks, but today was just.. Too much for him if he had to be honest. He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and taking in the sights his memory provided: he and Sol on the Ferris Wheel, rocking with the motion when Sollux said he loved him, and they kissed. Fourth of July had never burned that bright, ever. Sollux had to leave after that, and he understood, but.. It hurt. It hurt counting each and everyday until the other just might come back. A sigh, and Eridan opened his eyes again to the dimming light the sunset provided, bathing everything in a soft orange.

The breath in his throat caught once he had gotten a glimpse of the blondes face, recognising him almost instantaneously. He stopped behind him, not sure exactly what to say after five years of not seeing him. In that time though, the drive to come back only grew stronger and stronger.

"E-Eridan...?" The name was squeaked out cautiously, only hope that this would be him. That his whole month of searching for him was finally over.

Eridan's eyes widened as he turned in the direction his name came from, heart stopping in his chest as he spotted Sollux. The look on his face was of pure astonishment, until a sad smile overtook his features.

"... Please tell me that's you, Sol..."

He gave a small nod with a tearful smile.

"Yeah ED. It'th me." Sollux stepped forward to shakily take the other into his arms, warmth filling him at finally seeing him again, finally being able to hold him once more and not ever having to let go of him.

"I told you I'd be back."

"I knoww, it's just been forevver..." The shorter boy answered, burying his face in sollux's chest.

".. Lispy asshole, wwhere were you?" He asked, melting as warmth overtook him, making him smile despite the pain of it all from years past. Eridan hiccuped, and clutched at the other's shirt.

He chuckled into his hair and tightened his arms around him.

"I wath home. I couldn't find anyway to get back, then I graduated and here I am. Ath thoon ath I got home I left and came back here." Sollux murmured before pulling back to look down at the other, who remained shorter than him.

Eridan sniffed, and took his glasses off too wipe at his eyes with the back of his wrist.

".. I'm glad you came back. Wwas it the promise that made you? Or are you here on holiday?" He asked, trying to tease as he smiled at the taller boy, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"No. I came back becauthe... I thtill love you ED. I never thtopped, not even for a moment." Sollux softly wiped some of the others tears away under the glasses. He never imagined to be this nervous talking to Eridan again, but he was scared that he had moved on when himself had not and would not.

A small ' heh ' was released as Sollux wiped his tears away, making him smile a little more genuinely before the words hit him like a freight train.

".. I lovve you too, Sol, alwways havve an alwways wwill.." With that, he pulled the taller man into a loving kiss, arms looping around his boyfriend's neck, never letting Sollux go again.

Relief spread throughout Sollux as he more that happily kissed right back. The feeling of being able to never have to leave him ever again overwhelming. And at the very moment, nothing could have ever felt so wonderful to him, kissing the blonde in the same spot from so many years ago where the fireworks clashed loudly and brightly behind them. But this time, Sollux didn't have to go. Maybe some things do turn out how you want them...


End file.
